I served in the U.S. Army from 1991-2014 as a medic. I served at Fort Hood, Texas, for 10 years as part of a medical support battalion of four companies comprising medics. We were always attached to hospitals on a combat tour. There were only two medical battalions in the Army in the '90s. All four of our companies were deployed simultaneously at one time to different countries.
I served in 1993 at Mogadishu, Africa, with a team of medical professionals from 42nd Field Support Hospital. We had our company of medics in surrounding areas serving all our wounded. We were the only American hospital in Africa at the time and received the American casualties of Black Hawk Down. Our tour was six months of hardships dealing with trauma, OB-GYN and psychological issues. We went over young and green as medics, and came back praising God for protecting us from bullets. Diplomacy in that time period was shoot first, ask later; now it is identify, target and shoot. The African people used the children as weapons. Women were castrated upon puberty; our first two months there we provided medical aid to the village people of Somalia. One culmination factor you learn is to appreciate our many gifts our country has.